Breaths Apart
by Watercolor Ink
Summary: [[SasuNaru]] In the dark, some things just seem to slip away. [[Complete]]
1. Not Every Story

ah...again, written very late at night. Chapter One of a two-part story.

no sue please.

* * *

Naruto 

Everything is cold, cold, cold, and everything is dark, dark, dark.

These black heavy chains rattle, the only silence breaker other than the sound of breathing.

He wants the breathing to stop.

It is loud- loud and harsh and ragged. It sounds so weary, so _weak_.

He hates it.

Every second, every minute, he listens to the breathing that screams out '_weak, weak, weak._'

Sometimes he holds his breath, but that makes his lungs hurt and right now he can't take much more pain.

…

The room is twelve spaces to the left, twelve spaces to the right, and twelve spaces to the center.

If he goes any farther the chains grow taut and creak.

More noise.

So mostly, he sits and waits and contemplates.

…

Thinking hurts too, because his brain is fuzzy and he feels dizzy even when he presses himself flat against the cold (_colder than ice_) metal floor.

He doesn't know where he is, only that he's trapped and that

Everything is cold, cold, cold, and everything is dark, dark, dark.

In the streets above, in the village above, someone is laughing.

* * *

Not many people are aware that the very worst criminals are buried 3 miles underground the streets, instead of in the prison quite a ways away.

The logic being, of course, that they would be executed soon and there was no need to waste prison space on these people.

Uzumaki Naruto had been there for a very, _very _long time.

6 months, maybe?

Sakura is frantic, on the verge of insanity.

InoShikaChou are beginning to hate each other, because Naruto brought out the best of them and now they see only weaknesses.

Shino, Kiba, and Hinata are like a dysfunctional family. The Inuzuka yells more (Where has his pack mate gone?) Hinata cries more, (Where has her hero gone?) and Shino watches, frowning behind his dark shields. (Where has Naruto gone?)

Team Gai no longer trains together.

Iruka hasn't eaten ramen in six months.

Kakashi hasn't smiled for six months.

Jaraiya left five months ago. (Looking for his student? Or given up on him like he has Orochimaru?)

The sand siblings wonder why Gaara hasn't gotten any letters. (Why did he stop writing? Am I all alone again?)

Tsunade sits and writes and fills out paperwork. The one declaring the imprisonment of Uzumaki Naruto (signed by her, dammit!) was taken away by the councilors long ago so she would not burn it. (She tried to burn herself once, but Shizune would not allow it.)

On the streets outside, a villager is laughing.

Tomorrow is October 10th.

* * *

Naruto 

He remembers something, a true delight since he can't seem to remember many things.

It was a window, or rather looking through the window, at a mother tucking her daughter in to sleep. It was a lullaby, or rather a whispered song, sweet and low and caring.

The tune is lost to him now.

The words are lost to him now.

Everything is lost to him now, because everything is

Dark, dark, dark, and cold, cold, cold.

* * *

Sasuke 

He remembers everything, crisp and clear and ugly.

Every detail of the red in his eyes, the anger in his face, the hope in his voice when he said…

"_Like brothers._"

He remembers, a slithering voice, sickly and smooth…

"_I've heard that demon-boy has disappeared."_

Every sign of glee and mocking as he relays this precious little information to Sasuke, he remembers.

Hate (as always, for Orochimaru), then rage (What, did the dobe just leave the village?), fear (is he like me now? He should never be like me!) Then worry (He wouldn't, couldn't, just _leave_, right? Not like I did!)

Then, a decision.

Sound is a surprisingly easy place to escape from.

* * *

The guilt eats Tsunade up inside.

_I'm way too old for this._

She didn't have a choice; it was Naruto or the village… those damn councilors…

_Way, way too old._

But he was her 'little brother,' the next Hokage, the…

_The prisoner beneath my feet._

* * *

Sasuke 

Konoha was a surprisingly easy place to sneak in to.

The councilor's office had been trickier getting into than the high walls around the village. It was rather pathetic.

He wondered how easy an underground prison would be.

* * *

Sakura stared blankly ahead.

At the wall, paint smoothed to perfection.

At nothing. Her eyes are a cloudy green, like a dying leaf.

_He was gone._

_They were both gone, and she was empty._

_Her sun and her moon had disappeared from the sky, and her world was eternal dusk and dawn._

Sakura was truly starting to hate the color pink.

* * *

Naruto 

He dreamed.

That was new; he had not dreamed in forever and a day.

He had dreamed of darkness, but that was all he knew and thus all he dreamed of too. It was interesting, from what he can remember, for the dark has many shades and shadows.

But it hurts to try to hold on to the memory. (Has he been drugged?) And his head is pounding... as well as his heart, for reasons he cannot remember and will not try to.

He has been betrayed. He knows that, but it confuses him, because who could have betrayed him in this insistent dark? This constant loneliness?

He has not spoken in an eternity, for there is no one to speak to.

It is cold, and that is how he knows he's not still dreaming.

Cold, cold, cold, surrounded by all this dark, dark, dark.

* * *

Ah so... part two should be coming soon! Did you hate it, love it, even understand it? Please review either way! 


	2. Ends Happily

So... updating this. Turns out its going to be more than two chapters... is there such a thing as a three shot? lol.  
Anyway, angsty and metaphorical as always.

don't sue me, no own Naruto, blah.

start

* * *

Sakura

She turns to look out, at the blue sky that is only a disgusting dawn pink to her.

She turns to look out, at the crowded streets and the many faces.

It makes it her sad, because these people never knew sunlight.

She can tell.

And then- one face, one smooth, perfect, pale face…

No one else can see him. No one else notices the cloaked figure that walks with them, shadow intermingling under the forever sunset.

But then again, not many people care to notice the moon.

* * *

Sasuke

As night falls, so does he.

But he falls beneath the earth, into a place protected by miles and miles of metal and rock, surrounded by a village of fools.

Footsteps echo as he walks down empty halls.

It unnerves him that a place of so many criminals does not have more guards.

Sasuke is half way down, into the cold hallways. (But he is used to such things. How long has he spent in the lair of a snake?)

* * *

Naruto 

Dark, dark, dark, cold, cold, cold, dark, dark-

It's become almost a chant in his mind now.

Or maybe not (in his mind, that is), because sometimes he hears a voice that he thinks might be his own, echoing off somewhere.

He doesn't quite know if darkness can be echoed off, but it is so thick and chilling he considers it.

He is cold. Hadn't he already thought that? Yes. No.

Something sighs (Is it him? Is he a something?) and he immediately hates it, because it sounds hopeless and sad, and _weak_.

_Weak, weak, weak…._

And cold, cold, cold, in this dark, dark, dark.

* * *

Sakura 

Night always followed the moon, and Sakura was desperate for the black of night.

She follows.

* * *

Naruto 

Sometimes he is angry.

A blinding, destructive angry, that makes him want roar and claw and tear apart the dark until it bleeds.

But darkness does not bleed and the red anger passes soon.

He blinks slowly as he realizes he remembered a color.

Red.

Red, red, red, red…

He chants it now, because it is a memory returned that was not immediately forgotten, something more precious than sleep or any dream.

Soon others come back…. Blue, yellow, purple, green, pink…

It's too much. Such an enormous flow of thought and memory, his fuzzy mind closes down because it is in so much pain.

Too much.

Too much.

Soon, all that is left is the dark. And the cold numbness.

So cold, cold, cold, so dark, dark-

* * *

Sasuke

Sasuke swears as he finds himself at another dead end, another corridor filled with empty cages.

No wonder there are no guards- one could easily lose their way in such a place and die here anyway, criminal or not.

He breaks into a run, feet pounding against the icy metal floors as he turns corner after corner after corner-

* * *

Sakura 

She follows desperately.

Eventually morning will follow night. She wants her sun, and her moon, and sanity.

People have told her she is insane.

_Well, _

Her mind races as do her feet, following the moon,

_They are all wrong, so wrong, because here I am, finding my way._

So she turns down hallway after hallway, following, as she always has.

* * *

Naruto 

He shifts and winces as the chains rattle.

He groans silently as his head pounds with the noise, settling down as so to not worry the cold metal once again.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura 

They both hear it, though only Sakura is aware of the other's presence.

It is faint, a creaking, scratching noise that could only be heard by a trained shinobi…

But it is there.

And Sasuke knows, (Oh, he knows so very well,) that wherever there are chains, there a prisoners.

And Sakura knows, (Oh she has known it for such a long time,) that the sun has always been a prisoner.

They run.


	3. Perhaps This One Does?

I... got a lot of encouraging and amazing reviews, so I tried to make the ending as well-written as possible. I.. don't know how well I did, and I'm kind of not satisfied with the ending. Depending on what you guys think, I might do an epilogue later.

i don't own naruto

* * *

Naruto

Pounding, pounding, something is breaking the rhythm of his (weak, weak, weak) breathing.

It sounds like feet hitting metal, or like his heart, beating loftily in his chest.

It sounds like darkness coming down upon him, pressing the chains into his skin and the shadows into his soul.

It makes him cold. It gets darker.

His eyes blur and for a second the chill disappears.

He closes his eyes against the dark for more blackness, letting sleep take him.

There, it will not be cold, cold, cold… dark, dark, dark…

* * *

Sasuke 

He glances sharply behind him, red swirling eyes picking up the shape of Sakura, running with him steadily.

Her eyes are a bit different from what he remembers, and for a second he is tempted to tell her to leave, turn around, go back.

Instead he faces forward again, listening for the scrape of metal, of chains.

* * *

Sakura

She can see it, feel it almost. The glow of the sun is filling the dark hallways, mixing with the light of the moon, finally, _finally _overpowering the terrible pink of dusk and dawn.

They're getting closer, and yet the pale face of the moon holds uncertainty. With a bold step, she takes the lead and follows the light.

_I will be useful, this time!_

* * *

Elsewhere 

Outside, the sun is rising on a new day.

Villagers are preparing their ribbons and lamps, excitement growing in every person. Today is October 10th,

the anniversary of the defeat of a great fox, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Shinobi are rising, shinobi are falling.

Sakura has disappeared, but no seems to care. (She had gone mad, anyway.)

InoShikaChou meet on their separate paths, not even speaking as each continues on their way.

Team 8 is attempting to get ready for the festival together, but Kiba can't keep his mouth shut and Hinata's hands are shaking too much to tie ribbons.

Team Gai almost doesn't exist. Neji knows he will not see Lee or Tenten at the festival, and he knows no one will see him.

Iruka considers celebrating the anniversary with a bowl of ramen, then remembers and decides there is nothing to celebrate.

Kakashi will definitely not be attending.

And Tsunade sits at her desk, eyes bleary as she signs another document, trying desperately to keep the date off her mind.

Today is October 10th, the birthday of Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

Naruto

He is dreaming. Obviously.

Because he is filled with a strange warmth, and the corners of his mouth want to turn upwards, as though in a… smile.

Happiness is so foreign to him now, he almost rejects the idea, remembering how the colors hurt his weary mind.

Because with happiness comes sorrow and fear and hate and love….

Before he knows it, he is remembering and his brain screams out and everything is growing dark again.

Except… this time…

There is something other than darkness to sink into. There is something that is not cold and stone and metal.

It is not cold, cold, cold, it is not dark, dark, dark.

It is a face.

It is a voice.

And it is calling his name.

* * *

Sasuke

"Naruto!" Sasuke cries, as clouded blue eyes stare up at him, unfocused and blank.

This is scary. He would never admit it to _anyone, _but seeing his foe, his rival, his friend, like _this_….

He looks so dead. And its not the pale skin that clutches to his bones… its not the filthy torn clothes or heavy chains. It's the eyes… because in this darkness, they don't look so blue anymore.

"Naruto!"

* * *

Sakura

She runs in after him, to his screams and the face of someone half-dead.

But, despite this, they are in orbit again, the three of them. The sun looks hollow on the inside, but to sooth the moon she reaches forward with a green light, already ready to heal the wound.

Sakura closes her eyes and smiles, a truly sane smile, as beneath her finger tips cuts and scrapes and hearts are healed. At last she finds it- the fuzzy barrier around his mind, the jutsu clouding his eyes.

With a fierce shove, it is gone.

* * *

Naruto

The darkness, so thick and forbearing, does not disappear. Nor does the cold- for the cold has gone far enough to soak the marrow of his bones

But something else is gone, and suddenly the memories are flooding him, choking him.

It _hurts, _oh it hurts so much, but there is someone in front of him, no two people… and he knows them… he knows…

"Sasuke!"

"Sakura!"

* * *

Together

"Naruto!" They both say it at once, and as he grips them both in a hug that really is too weak, they raise him up, cutting his chains and gazing into his clear, pained blue eyes.

In the streets above, a villager who laughed once is frowning, because a fox has crossed his path.

* * *

Please review. I want to know what you think of the [last chapter! 


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